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CAST OUT: Sajani, 10, was stripped of her Kumari title because she went to the US to promote a documentary about Nepal's centuries-old custom. A group of Hindu and Buddhist priests said the trip had rendered her 'impure'. -- PHOTO: AP
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A 10-YEAR-OLD girl, one of Nepal's dozen 'Kumaris', or living goddesses, has been stripped of her status because she travelled overseas to promote a documentary about the centuries-old tradition.
Sajani Shakya broke with tradition by leaving the country - something she is forbidden to do as one of the kingdom's top three living goddesses.
Last month, Sajani, who is due to return to Nepal later this week, visited Washington to help promote a British documentary about the living goddesses of the Katmandu Valley.
Often dressed in a red and gold gown, she visited an elementary school, went on a private tour of the White House and was feted by the Nepalese Embassy.
All that, however, was apparently too much for a group of Hindu and Buddhist priests in her hometown of Baktapur.
They stripped her of her title, saying that leaving Nepal to visit the United States had rendered her impure, said Ms Ishbel Whitaker, the director of the documentary Living Goddess.
'Everyone was shocked and saddened,' Ms Whitaker said in London after she had spoken to Sajani on Tuesday morning, the day the announcement was made.
Ms Whitaker said Sajani's family told her they had consulted with priests at the temple she is affiliated with about her trip.
The director said she did not recognise the names of the priests who dismissed Sajani, and it was still unclear if they had the authority to do so.
However, in Nepal, Mr Jaiprasad Regmi, chief of the government trust which manages the affairs of the living goddesses, said: 'We have begun the process to search for a new Kumari.'
Priests consult a horoscope and choose a girl who meets 'the 32 perfections', including skin 'of golden colour' and a body 'like a banyan tree'.
Considered earthly manifestations of the Hindu deity Kali and chosen when they are about two years old from a Buddhist caste, the living goddesses are worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists.
The girls usually keep their title until their first menstruation. After that, they retire.
While the main Kumari lives a sequestered life in a palatial temple in the capital, others, like Sajani, are allowed to stay at home, attend regular school and take part in festivals.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES
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